Scout Travel Tips Wiki

Travel Tips for Nashville, TN:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nashville Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Nashville
Central Tennessee Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Middle_Tennessee
Natchez Trace Parkway Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Natchez_Trace_Parkway

Mike Summers - March 2012:

If you're visiting Nashville, it's easy to get into the city using the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority system. One-way fare to downtown is $1.70. Here's a link with information for the MTA: http://www.nashvillemta.org/ . Here's the MTA trip planner for Route 18 that connects the airport to downtown Nashville: http://www.nashvillemta.org/maps/route18.pdf . Of course you can also rent a car to visit the surrounding areas not connected by bus. Another way to see the city is through Green Fleet Bicycle Tours (Two Websites: http://www.greenfleethub.com/ and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g55229-d2627585-Reviews-Green_Fleet_Bicycle_Tours-Nashville_Tennessee.html ). The two main streets with most of the action are 2nd Avenue and Broadway. The Big River Grill, now a Rock Bottom Restaurant, is located at 111 Broadway (Website: http://www.bigrivergrille.com/index.php?pg=location&sub=loc&location_id=22). It's a solid place to enjoy food in the downtown area. Demos' Steak and Italian Restaurant (Website: http://www.demosrestaurants.com/index.cfm ) is located near 3rd Avenue and Commerce; it has great food at great prices. BB Kings at 152 2nd Avenue (Website: http://www.bbkingclubs.com/index.php?page=nashhome ) has great food and great music. We went twice. If you're interested in visiting a brewery near downtown, the Jackalope Brewery taproom is open Thursday through Saturday from 4:00 to 8:00 PM (Website: http://jackalopebrew.com/ ). Just south of Vanderbilt University about 7 minutes from downtown is Bosco's Restaurant and Brewing Company (Website: http://www.boscosbeer.com/ ). Also near Vanderbilit closer to downtown is the Blackstone Brewing Company (Website: http://blackstonebrewery.com/ ). Before or after visiting one or both of these establishments, take a walk through the Vanderbilt Campus. The bookstore is located at 25th Avenue and West End (same street as Blackstone). Bookstore information: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2011/11/new-bookstore-opens/ and http://www.vanderbilt.edu/map/vicinity.html. Jed's Sports Bar and Grill is near the Vanderbilt campus and the Parthenon (Website: http://www.jedsnashville.com/Jeds_Nashville/Home.html ). Here's some general tourist information: http://www.visitmusiccity.com/visitors/index and http://www.nashville.com/attractions.html . A few high points would include the Country Music Hall of Fame (Website: http://countrymusichalloffame.org/ ), the Grand Ole Opry (Website: http://www.opry.com/ ), the Hermitage -- Andrew Jackson's home (Website: http://www.thehermitage.com/ ), the Parthenon -- modeled after the original in Athens (Website: http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/ ) the Belle Meade Plantation (Websites: http://bellemeadeplantation.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Meade_Plantation ), and the original home of the Grand Ole Opry -- the Ryman Auditorium (Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryman_Auditorium and http://ryman.com/). You might also want to check out the Blue Bird Cafe, which is featured on the TV series "Nashville" (Website: http://www.bluebirdcafe.com/ ). It's really hard to get seats; so, read the reservation page carefully on the website. Also, mainly from March to December is the General Jackson Riverboat (Website: http://www.generaljackson.com/ ) that cruises the Cumberland River. Some other river cruise websites are here: http://www.ehow.com/list_6324359_nashville-river-cruises.html. Some other fun places to visit are the Big Bang Piano Bar right by the Convention Center and the Ryman Auditorium (Website: http://www.thebigbangbar.com/tn/nashville ), the Stage on Broadway for live music (Website:
http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/go/the-stage-on-broadway ), Robert's Western World, which is the home of Hillbilly Music, PBR, and burgers (Website: http://robertswesternworld.com/) in downtown, Lonnie's Western Room on Printer's Alley is fun for karaoke and laughs (Website: http://www.lonnieswesternroom.com/). Printer's Alley is a fun little area. Here's a couple of websites for it:
http://printersalley.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer%27s_Alley . For a great steak visit Stoney River (Website: http://nashville.stoneyriver.com/ ) or visit them at happy hour from 3:00 - 7:00 pm each day at the bar only (Happy Hour Menu: http://www.stoneyriver.com/assets/downloads/menus/nashville_rivertime.pdf ). Nashville is a great city to visit. Plan to spend at least one, but probably two overnights to fully appreciate the city.
Enjoy!
Mike Summers

Mike Summers - September 2016:

We like Nashville so much that we go back each year. When I reviewed Scout Travel Tips, I realized that I hadn't posted anything in four years! For the most part, everything above still holds true. We spend most of our time on Broadway from 5th Avenue down to the river and 1st Avenue. Here's a couple of nice websites about this five block strip: http://nashville.about.com/od/historyandsites/ss/lowerbroad.htm and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_%28Nashville,_Tennessee%29 and http://www.nashvilledowntown.com/go/broadway . For Happy Hour drinks go to Broadway Brewhouse and Mojo Grill (website: http://downtown.broadwaybrewhouse.net/ ). For food and dinner try Merchant's Restaurant (website: http://www.merchantsrestaurant.com/ ) where a window seat is a great place to sit. Also Puckett's at 5th and Church Street is another excellent choice (Website: http://puckettsgro.com/nashville/our-menu/ ). Good music venues for listening to up and coming artists on Broadway are Robert's Western World (Website: http://robertswesternworld.com/ ) and Tootsie's (Website: http://www.tootsies.net/ ). A downtown hotel makes it easy to walk to these places. The Sheraton (Website: http://www.sheratonnashvilledowntown.com/ ) is within easy walking distance to these many venues. Enjoy!

Mike Summers - January 2018:

Nashville continues to improve and add many new places to stay, visit, and dine. Some great hotels include the Thompson (Website:
http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/nashville/thompson-nashville ), the 21c Museum Hotel (Website : https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/nashville/ ), the Fairlane Hotel (Website: https://www.fairlanehotel.com/ ), and the Holsten House Hotel (Website:
https://holstonhousenashville.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html ). All these hotels offer great services. Nearby these hotels are the Music Hall of Fame (Website: https://countrymusichalloffame.org/ ), and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Website: http://fristcenter.org/ ). Many new bars and restaurants have opened up recently. Try Mockingbird (Website: http://www.mockingbirdnashville.com/ ), or the Black Rabbit in Printer's Alley (Website:
https://www.blackrabbittn.com/ ), or Prper Sake Co (Website: https://www.propersake.co/ ), or Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint with it's 13,000 Sq ft complex (Website: https://www.martinsbbqjoint.com/ ), or finally, the iconic Loveless Café (Website: http://www.lovelesscafe.com/ ). Nashville is a great town to visit for one, two, or three days!

Enjoy!